(MOMENTARILY ON HOLD) The Other Girl (Harry Styles)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

HARRY’S POV

“Where did that come from?” Liam asks with a nervous laugh, as if he expects me to suddenly burst into flames.

“Just... curious,” I stammer. Then I push on, although I’m slightly unnerved by everyone’s stares. “So, when? Aren’t we going there this year? For tour? Or... something like that?”

“Don’t get your pants in a twist, Haz,” laughs Louis. “Although you rarely wear any... anyway, we’re going there soon. Next week, Haz! How could you forget... but besides that, what’s wrong with you today? You’re having mood swings, in case you didn’t realise...”

“Maybe he’s PMSing,” says Zayn, stretched onto the couch. He reaches for the remote and smirks at me as I shoot daggers at him. Luckily – or maybe unluckily? – Niall’s a little better at reading people. “Is this because of Chloe, Haz?” he asks curiously. I snort, shaking my head; I can answer that was honestly. “No way.”

Niall won’t give up. “Then is it because of London?” he persists.

It’s a little more difficult for me to answer that. “Wh-what?” I stammer. “Who’s London? What? Why... why would I... what...?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “So it’s because of London.”

Ugh. I need to work on my acting.

“Ooh! That’s good! I want to meet London, too,” Niall says enthusiastically. “She seems nice.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not because of London!” I insist. “I swear. I just really, really want to go to Australia.”

Ignoring the incredulous and extremely disbelieving snorts and eye-rolls of the others, I turn around and head up to my room. At first I just lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. Then I realise just how bored I am and open up Twitter again, this time on my laptop, sitting up with it in my lap. Chloe has Tweeted “can’t wait for One Direction to come to Australia. I haven’t seen them in ages! x”

I snort at how she acts like we’re her best friends and realise with a groan that the others have already retweeted. Honestly, those boys... I sigh and head over to London’s account, curious to see if she’s Tweeted anything. I’m surprised to see that she’s also Tweeted about us: “I’m going to One Direction’s concert when they come to Australia. I’m a big fan!”

London’s a big fan?!

I contemplate Tweeting her, just to see how she reacts. After about two seconds of weighing the pros and cons, I go for it. “Hi London! You’re a friend of Chloe’s, right? I’m glad to hear you’re a fan!”

I wait anxiously for a reply, not even knowing why I feel so tense. It’s just a Tweet, I tell myself. Just a Tweet. But somehow, it feels like it’s deciding whether London will approve of me or not...

Whoa, what?! Approve? I’m the Harry Styles. I don’t need to worry about whether some girl will approve of me or not... right? I sit on the bed nibbling at my bottom lip and running my fingers through my hair, apprehensive, nervous. Suddenly I hear Louis’ voice: “Haaaaaaz! Apparently you’ve been hacked...”

What the––?

I rush down the stairs, dumping my laptop on the bed. “Wh–what? By who? Where? What? How do you know?”

“London just DMed me saying that she thinks you were hacked because ‘you’ Tweeted her,” Louis says, eyes narrowed. “But I don’t think you were hacked, Hazza, I think you’re just interested in London and want any excuse to talk to her. Am I right or am I wrong?”